


A Shooting Star

by saladqueen



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Loki wants to be good, Michelle is 26, Nightmares, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, tags contain spoilers duh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-20 22:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13726944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saladqueen/pseuds/saladqueen
Summary: The infinity war took the lives of many of our heroes, Loki being one of the few survivors, and the one defeating Thanos in the end. After 10 years of being lost he decides to start a new life on Earth, more specifically in New York, where he meets Michelle Jones.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my new fic! I will still post on Stark Family, but I got this idea a while ago and I just had to write it. I have no idea if this will be any good at all, but I will do my best, and feel free to tell me what you think about it! This first chapter is just kind of a prologue; it was a bit too long to post as a summary but I still wanted to have it in. The actually story will begin in the next chapter. Enjoy!

The Infinity War hadn’t done much damage to Earth. Well, at least not as much as they had thought it would. Civilians _had_ died, and cities had been destroyed, but it wasn’t much worse than a regular war. It hadn’t been a huge drop in population, basically.

But Earth hadn't been the only place with loss. Not many of the heroes who had fought in the war survived. The only ones still standing after the victory were a few of the Guardians, and Loki. Loki had been the one who in the end defeated Thanos, managing to use the power of the Infinity stones against him, destroying them in the action.

The Guardians had stayed on Earth for a while after the victory before going home, but Loki left immediately. Since Asgard had been destroyed, he didn’t really have a place to call home. So for a while he just moved between realms and planets, hoping to find a place he could settle down at.

But Loki had changed after the war, in a way he couldn’t really come to terms with. So not only did he have to deal with the nightmares and grief he was trying hard to suppress, but also not recognizing himself anymore.

His whole life he’d striven for power. The few times he’d actually helped someone he’d always have an ulterior motive, or the results would be in his favor as well. But during the war he’d acted different than he’d ever had before. Of course defeating Thanos would be in his favor as well, since he, you know, wanted to enslave all kinds of life, but the way he’d done it was unlike the way he normally would. He had several times risked his own life in order to try to and save the others’, and when he failed he’d been filled with an unfamiliar, awful feeling. Especially when he’d seen his brother die.

For many years he had an internal struggle on whether he should suppress this new, unfamiliar … _humanity_ , as he’d decided to call it, or try to come to terms with it and try to become a new person.

After 10 years of debating this and moving from place to place without feeling comfortable anywhere, he decided to give in to the change within himself the war had given him, and move to Earth to try and start a new life. He had deliberately avoided Earth during all those years, not wanting to go back to the place where it had all started. But he realized that going back to where his change had taken place might help him with his new life, and so he decided to give it a try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I really hope this will make a good story. Feel free to tell me what you thought of this, and if you have any suggestions for future chapters. See you next time!


	2. Elizabeth, Dylan and Michelle

“Here you go, Lucas”, the landlady said, dropping the keys in Loki’s hand after unlocking the apartment door. “Call me if there’s any problems, or if you have any questions at all, okay?”

Loki nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.”

The old woman smiled, gave him pat on the shoulder and made her way to the elevator.

Loki walked into the studio apartment, throwing the keys onto the counter next to the door. Next to him on the right was the kitchen, in front of him the small living room with a TV and a love seat, next to the living room on the left was the bathroom, and in the small space between the wall the door was on and the bathroom was his bed. Above it were a few cupboards with enough space to put his small packing of clothes in.

The only things he had with him were some newly bought clothes, more suitable to Earth than the cloths he’d worn in Asgard. Luckily he’d found a place that was already furnished, since he’d had no interest in buying it himself.

He dropped his new duffel bag on the floor and sat at the end of his bed. Being on Earth, and especially in New York, was already starting to get hard for him. The memories he’d fought hard to suppress these last 10 years were now dangerously close to coming back.

Hopefully occupying himself would distract him, and he caught himself actually looking forward to going to work in the morning. He’d gotten a job at a local library, which was only a block from his apartment complex. Figuring out what kind of job he wanted had been pretty hard, since he hadn’t really had one before. Of course, he could’ve easily gotten money without having to work, but he wanted to try out a “normal” lifestyle. Which meant he had to get a job without any legitimate education, and get an apartment he would be able to afford with that job.

The reason he chose to work at a library was mostly because it seemed like a calm and quiet place. He’d spent a lot of time during his childhood at the library in his home, and not because he was very fond of reading, but because he just liked the atmosphere there. He’d also read a lot during the years after the war to occupy himself, and had actually started to enjoy books. They were a good temporary escape from reality.

He quickly put his clothes in the storage above his bed and went to the kitchen. After making a quick dinner, with the food the landlady had been kind enough to fill his fridge with, he went to bed. It was a bit too early to go to bed, but he was afraid that his thoughts would start to wander in the wrong direction, which they usually did in the evenings. So he turned off the lights and went to sleep.

 

-

 

Loki sat upright in his bed, grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt as he gasped. His shirt was soaked with sweat and he felt tears running down his cheeks. The images of his teammates, his _brother_ , laying on the ground wouldn’t leave his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to take deep breaths and think about something else, deciding what to eat for breakfast and trying to remember what his boss at the library’s name was.

He slowly lay down on his mattress again, still panting slightly. It had been a long time since he had this nightmare, and seeing his brother’s face for the first time in years left him shaken.

He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand, which showed that it was just past four in the morning. He groaned when he realized that he would be exhausted on his first day at work, because he sure wasn’t getting any more sleep tonight.

Still, he forced his eyes shut, ignoring the all too familiar feeling of the adrenaline coursing through his body, preparing him to once again do everything in his power to try and save his brother’s life.

 

-

 

Loki’s hand was on the alarm clock a millisecond after it started blaring. He’d spent the last hour counting the minutes until it would go off, after unsuccessfully trying to go back to sleep.

He sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes. He would definitely feel the lack of sleep during the day. After taking off his clothes he went to the bathroom, threw them in the hamper, and stepped in the shower. He turned up the water to where it almost burnt his skin, allowing it to relax his tense muscle. It actually helped a bit.

He stepped out, wrapped a towel around his hips, and went to the mirror above the sink. His face was a bit paler than usual and he had dark circles under his eyes, most likely from the lack of sleep. He quickly dried off his hair and pulled it back to put it in a low bun, which he had seen a lot of men do. He walked out of the bathroom to his bed and put on a light blue button up with a pair of khakis. It was, again, an outfit he’d seen others wear.

After quickly consuming his breakfast he remained in the love seat for a while, letting his mind wander (although not too much). When he’d come back he was worried that people would recognize him, but during the times he’d walked around the city the last few days no one had seemed to pay any attention to him. It _had_ been a long time, over 10 years, and he’d left Earth before everyone had time to recover from the war and started praising the heroes, which by then were just the Guardians. The incidents in Berlin and New York had been even longer ago, and even though he knew that they hadn’t forgotten about them he at least hoped that they had forgotten about his face. He was trying to lay those parts of his life behind him, and people bringing them up definitely wouldn’t help.

15 minutes before having to be at work he put on his trench coat, grabbed his keys and locked the door. He went to the elevator, and when the doors opened there was a woman inside. He took a deep breath and walked in, decidedly not looking at her.

In his peripheral vision he could see the woman look at him and furrow her brows. “Do I know you?”

Loki inhaled, staring at the display that showed the floor numbers and prayed that they would go faster. “I doubt it.”

The woman hummed. It was quiet for a few moments, and then, with a harder voice, “What are you doing here?”

He clenched his fist and turned his head away from her, pretending to study something on his right. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

The woman kept staring at him, and after a beat her face softened with a smile. “Oh, you’re the one who just moved in here, aren’t you? I’m sorry, we’ve just had some problems with random people walking in and out of this complex. I’m Julia.”

Loki unclenched his fist and exhaled, turning to the woman with a humorless grin. “It’s nice to meet you, Julia. I’m Lucas. And yes, I did just move here.”

Julia hummed again, and she seemed to move her gaze along his body for a few seconds. Loki shifted on his feet, feeling a bit uncomfortable under her ogle. He threw another glance at the floor display.

She cocked her head to the side with a half-smile. “Are you new in town?”

Loki nodded, still not looking at her. They were just one floor away now. “Yes, I am.”

She took a step toward him. “Well, if you ever need anyone to show you around, I’m always available. I live in apartment numb-”

The doors opened with a _ping_ and Loki turned to her with a polite smile, full of relief. “I guess we’re going to have to take a rain check on that, Julia. I’ll see you around.”

The doors closed again before Julia had time to respond.

Loki chuckled lightly at the expression she had worn, and then stopped abruptly. He couldn’t really remember the last time he’d laughed. He hadn’t done much of it the last 10 years.

He walked out the doors and made his way down the street. After a couple of minutes he was standing in front of the library doors. It was fairly small, only one floor, which wasn’t very big. It was more like a bigger bookstore than a library.

He opened the doors and walked up to the counter, which was placed in the middle of the room. Behind the desk sat a woman with short, brown hair with hints of gray, and a pair of narrow glasses. He recognized her as the boss he’d met once before, who he now remembered was called Elizabeth.

He cleared his throat when he reached her, making her look up from the computer. “Ah, Lucas”, she said with a smile and stood up. She reached her hand out, which Loki took in his and shook firmly. “It’s so nice to have you here. I’m glad you could start on such short notice.”

He smiled back politely. “It’s nice to be here. So, where do you want me?”

“Well, as I explained last time, since this is a rather small library we don’t specialize in certain areas. That’s why you were able to get this job without any proper education. With a smaller paycheck than usual.” She winked at him, and he gave her a real smile. He was already starting to like her. “And so we just walk around and do whatever needs to be done. Help customers, organize books and so on. But just so you know, there is still a division between the three of us who work here. I’m usually by the computer and helping customers. And Dylan,” She pointed to the right, and Loki turned to see a man with short, blond hair and glasses reading a book, “he stays on the right side, which mostly has novels, fantasy, sci-fi and all that. And Michelle” She pointed to the other side, where a tall woman with brown, curly hair was putting away books in shelves, “usually stays on the left side, with the autobiographies, satire and stuff. You’re free to work wherever you want. But beware: even though I love them both, Dylan is a pretty big talker - he puts _me_ to shame - and Michelle has a habit of being a bit … snide. You gotta get used to it.”

“Alright. Talkative and childish, grumpy and far-too-serious?”

Elizabeth laughed delightedly. “Basically. But don’t mistake Michelle for being cold and boring, she’s just very passionate about things and has strong opinions. She’s also very open minded, which is refreshing.”

Loki nodded, looking at Michelle. She looked young, at least younger than 30. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and had that kind of natural, classic beauty that most people today didn’t appreciate, but which Loki had been raised to do.

“Well, I guess that’s all. We just got a new shipment of books, and you should probably give either Dylan or Michelle a hand with organizing them. You know, both to help and get to know them.”

Loki gave Elizabeth a thankful smile, and made his way over to Dylan. He wasn’t in the mood for sarcastic comments, even though Michelle seemed pretty interesting.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pretty short chapter, I know, but I really wanted to get something up today. Please tell me what you thought, and I'll see you next time!


End file.
